A Watch and a Key
by Loadingpleasewait55
Summary: The TARDIS crash-lands and needs some serious repairs before it can fly again. The (tenth) Doctor must ask a complete stranger to take him in. However, he begins to notice something rather odd about his host. (The chapters will get longer as the story picks up.)
1. Prolog

A hiss and a pop. That's what it started with. Isn't that what it always starts with? Some simple, little sound. Something your mind will dismiss. A warning of sorts. Foreshock would be a better word. A hiss and a pop, a prelude to a disaster.  
The Doctor's ears were finely tuned to hear anything wrong with the TARDIS. He heard the sound and watched a small lever, about the size of a dime, fly off the console. He rushed to the other side to look at the screen. The Gallifreyan numbers and letters were reflected in his eyes as his brow furrowed into a confused expression. Confusion quickly turned to uneasiness. Uneasiness became panic. He started flipping levers and pushing buttons quickly. The TARDIS was wrenched out of the time vortex violently. The room twisted and rocked. The Doctor had each hand on a different control. He would flip a lever here, run to the other side to pull a spring, and back again to move the control stick. He had to land before the TARDIS broke down.

"Come on, come on!" His voice increased in intensity and he started using more complicated maneuvers to reach different controls at the same time. His mind was in two parts. Autopilot, the part that didn't have to think about what to do. It pulled at the controls to get it to land. Then the other half of him was thinking up the most efficient way to get to the ground. Any ground. Anywhere. Anywhen. The room rocked about and threw him off of the console completely. The TARDIS was normally very unstable, but this was different. This was dangerous.

"No, no, no, no…" He ran back to the controls and pulled a rather large lever.

"Land!"

The TARDIS gave a shudder and jolted. It threw The Doctor off of his feet completely and he hit the ground, hard. He pulled himself up, holding his head where he had fallen. He was stumbling toward the controls, the rocking and jolting throwing him off course. The floor seemed to move of it's own accord. The banging and crashing noises swirled inside his head. The room jumped and tilted sideways. A loud smashing sound reverberated throughout the ship, then it stopped. It all stopped.

The rocking. The noises. Everything stopped. The room was at a tilt, but not bad enough that he was unable to walk around. The Doctor stood up slowly. The control room was a wreck. Items from other rooms were scattered all around the floor. Books from the library. Jackets from the wardrobe. The Doctor took a step tentatively. His TARDIS made a low creaking sound.

He must have landed somewhere. The ship was not in shreds and the shaking had stopped.

His eyes looked over at the control console. It had definitely been beaten up by the crash. A few levers and buttons were barely hanging on. Some of the controls had fallen off completely. The blue-green light that was normally shining brightly had dimmed. He knew he should check on the underneath, but his head was throbbing. He collapsed onto the only chair in the control room. It creaked and began to fall. He jumped up. It fell backwards with a crash.

"Oh, no, don't do that!" The Doctor said, staring at it. He had wanted to rest before he checked his machine over. That wasn't looking like an option now. He needed to check on the damage. He lifted up a panel in the floor to get to the main machinery of the TARDIS. It was a complete wreck. Cables had come undone and computer chips were lying on the floor. One particularly large cable had spilt open and was spitting sparks.

The Doctor lifted it aside to check on the breaking system. Completely demolished. So why wasn't the TARDIS moving?

He moved on to the control system. It was jammed. The cables and complicated computer system were mixed up. Even if he started the TARDIS from up above, it wouldn't move. It was broken enough that it wouldn't take off to another time or place. It was just stuck.

The throbbing in his head continued. He reached for his sonic screwdriver in his pocket, but found nothing. He groaned. It must have fallen out during the crash. He made his way up to the main room.

Glancing around, he saw no sign of his sonic. He would have to look harder. He picked up several clothing items and tossed it to the side. Nothing. He moved some books. Still nothing. The cable beneath him was still sparking occasionally. When it did, it would release a puff of smoke. It had started to float up to where he was. He coughed when he breathed it in. The jerking motion of his body pained his head. With every cough his head seemed to be crushed in. But he couldn't stop the reflexive motion. The pain in his head became too much. Holding his head, he fell over onto the broken chair and passed out.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclamer: I do not own DW or any of it's characters!

Asmer sighed as she collapsed into her chair by the computer. She relaxed her head against the back and gave a small push with hear feet to start her in a circular motion. She was halfway around when she stuck her other foot on the wheel of the chair and pushed herself in the other direction. She continued with this back and forth motion, not really motivated to do anything else.

Subconsciously, she reached up toward her necklace. She held the pendent in one hand, flipping it over and twisting it. She pulled on it gently and was surprised when it broke loose. The pendent usually hung on a piece of twine tied in a knot in the back. The twine had worn loose, and thus broken at the pressure.

She sat up, resting her elbows on her knees and looking at the broken thing. She got up slowly, and holding the broken necklace in one hand she made her way to the basement. She walked down the wooden staircase, the third step creaking as usual.

Asmer got to the metal shelf where she kept most practical items. On the bottom were the biggest and heaviest objects. She had a toolbox, which took up most of the space, but beside it was a bucket of various cords and electrical scraps. Such as an old mouse, her broken Wi-Fi router, and stuff of that sort.

The second shelf had more everyday things. She had scissors on that shelf, next to the pencil sharpener and a few binders and notebooks. Some of the notebooks were empty, but some had been filled up with notes and drawings from her imagination.

The third and top shelf was where she put everything she was too lazy to replace properly. The twine she was looking for belonged on the second shelf, in a shoebox with all the other string, but she never really put it back. She reached out for it and was just starting to unwind it when she heard a knock at her door.

She froze. She didn't have any friends in town, and she wasn't on speaking conditions with her family. So who the _hell _could that be? Solicitor, maybe. Somebody selling out cookies or something. She set the twine down, and stuck her necklace in her back pocket. She walked up the stairs and to the door. She opened the door tentatively.

A man was standing by the door, looking distracted by something. He wore a suit that looked like it was a nice suit at one time, but now it was stained and wrinkled. He also looked absolutely exhausted. She had her hand on the knob to let him in when he knocked again. She jumped at the sudden sound. She grabbed the knob again and swung the door open quickly.

"Can I help you?" She asked him.

"Hello! I'm The Doctor and I have a huge favor to ask." He said in a cheerful tone that didn't seem to fit his situation. Asmer was tempted to say that she didn't help strangers and shut the door in his face, but curiosity got the best of her.

"Depends on the favor."

"I need a place to stay for a few days. My, er, transportation broke down." He said all this very quickly and with varying tones of voice. His way of talking was very different than anyone else she'd ever heard.

"What, your car broke down? Call a friend or relative to pick you up. I ain't helping," Asmer said, backing away and starting to close the door.

"Wait!" He said, holding out his hands in protest. Asmer stopped, the door partway closed. "Just, hear me out, okay?"

When Asmer was silent, he must have taken that as a yes, and launched into an explanation. "I can't stay in my vehicle because there's too much damage. It's dangerous as well as uncomfortable. I don't have anyone to call, and even if I did, they couldn't take me to the place I need to go. I wouldn't ask for help if I didn't need it, believe me." Even after he finished, his hands were still in the same position, waiting for her response.

Asmer relaxed slightly. She stood there, thinking. He didn't _seem _untrustworthy, but you can never know about these things. On the other hand, he could be telling the truth. He could just need to stay somewhere for a few days, and that's all. Who was she to judge? She took a deep breath, trying to decide on her next words. Finally-

"You have family problems too?" She asked.

His face fell slightly. His hands relaxed and went back to his sides. "Well yeah, I guess you could call it that." He said something else, but it was lost to Asmer because he mumbled it under his breath.

"Family problems I get. Sure, you can stay." She said, opening the door all the way.

"I can?" He said, as if he was expecting the opposite answer. "Brilliant!"

The Doctor had brought some of the computer mechanisms along with him. He found a place to sit in the kitchen and pulled them out of his pocket. He pulled out his glasses and analyzed it with practiced eyes. Though he knew what needed fixing, there was no way he could get it fixed completely without his sonic screwdriver. But he could start. He started reattaching the bits and pieces that he could by hand. He heard foot steps behind him and he turned around.

"Ah, Asmer!" He said. She stood behind him, arms crossed.

"I don't think you ever said," She uncrossed her arms and walked toward the table. "What was your name?" She sat down.

"The Doctor." He stated simply. He hoped she would adopt the title without questioning it, but he supposed that was just something that happened. People are used to the firstname-lastname pattern.

"The Doctor." Asmer repeated. He sat up, surprised. "Okay, Doctor, how did your ride break down?"

"You called me Doctor!" He said, pleasantly.

"Well of course I did." She said, almost incredulously. "That's your name, isn't it?"

He grinned before picking up his piece of work again. "So you were wondering how I broke down. I broke down, well, crashed, yesterday. I don't know what happened, it just sort of fell apart. Luckily, I ended up in a place that's recognizable. We're in London, yes?" When Asmer nodded he sighed and said, more to himself, "London. It's always London."

"Sorry, didn't catch that." Asmer said, holding a hand up to her ear.

"Oh, I was just mumbling about London. Don't mind me."

Asmer narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "I heard you. You said 'Why is it always London'. Have you broke down here before? Visited before?"

"Yes and yes." He said, not looking up from his work.

Asmer leaned back, with an exasperated look on her face. The Doctor looked at her from over the top of his glasses.

"What?" He asked.

"What what?"

"You're looking at me funny."

"Am I?" Asmer leaned forward onto the table. "Well, you're just going to have to deal with it."

She reached behind her and pulled something from out of her back pocket. It was a piece of twine, with a key hanging on the end. The key was not an old-looking key like people normally wore as a necklace, but it was shiny and new.

"That's an interesting necklace," He noted.

"This?" Asmer held it up. "It's just a key on a string."

"What's it to?"

Asmer looked at the key slowly rotating around. "I don't know," She said thoughtfully. "I've just always had it, and I don't know why I don't just throw it away." She set it down on the table and adjusted the twine. The Doctor noticed a break in the strand. Just as he was about to point it out, Asmer pulled ball of twine and unraveled a bit of it. The Doctor went back to his own work as Asmer worked on hers.

The Doctor pulled at a small wire in the corner. The equipment he was working on lit up with a small wine.

"Ah, there we go!" He said with a grin. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go do something. I will be right back." The Doctor jumped up and almost ran out of the door. He hopped the fence and ran into the backyard. The TARDIS was leaning in a ditch, leaning on its side. It groaned and creaked when he approached it.

"Aw, I told you I'd be back." He said, hand on the side of the door. He popped the doors open and hopped in. He tumbled toward the main console and caught himself on it. Once there, he reached underneath and felt for the missing piece. He pulled the item he was working on earlier out of his pocket. He stuck it into the place it belonged, and it fit like a jigsaw puzzle. He popped his head underneath to take a look. He connected a few stray wires and the TARDIS hummed slightly, as a few lights came on.

"There we go! We've got basic power. I could do more, but I need my sonic…" He said, trailing off. "But I'll find it. Here, what else needs fixing?"

The Doctor glanced under the console again. There was nothing else that he could possibly fix without his sonic screwdriver. He looked around the room at the mess. It was probably buried underneath something in there, but he didn't know where to start. He sighed and started making his way toward the door again.

"I'll get you up and running in no time."


End file.
